10 Ways to Spend a Summer Day with the Children or Grandchildren

Summers "On Layton" have taken on a new excitement.

From the mid-1970's to the early '90's my boys busied this yard on Layton with bikes, bugs, basketballs, and plenty of buddies. And then there were a few decades of silence.

But 2014 has brought a new crop of children. . . the sons and daughters of my sons. It's exhilarating, although often wearying, to be back in the business of creatively making every day interesting and fun. (By the way, that's just another thing I love about God . . . He gives us second chances.)

Entertainment and fun were far from my primary goals as a mother in those early decades. The name of the game then was survival! But I've graduated. I bear the title "Grandma," and that title inherently carries with it the desire to excel in the eyes of my grandchildren as a fun-maker. How can I make every day they are here memorable? What can we do that will cause even a hard-to-please nine-year-old to say, "That was really a great day, Mama Jo!"

All my grandkids with Great-grandpa Joe on a Super Summer 2014 Day.

  

So "Master of Fun" is one of my primary goals these days. It's a worthy calling for a retiree, and I'm sticking to it.

But there is an added dimension that makes each  "fun" day with my grandchildren memorable. God says in Deuteronomy 6:5-7, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."                

So woven into our play time are reminders of who God is, how much He loves them and has sacrificed for them, and how He has a great plan and purpose for their lives. The highest goal is to see these children into God's Kingdom . . . and we've had plenty of fun this summer as we do that.

10 THINGS WE DID THIS SUMMER THAT "SCORED" . . . IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE:

1. We read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis. Then we found the videos at the library and watched them several times.


2. On Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the summer Regal Theater in Dickson shows a $1 movie at 9:30am. Walking with Dinosaurs is coming up in August.

3. We picked blueberries but missed the annual tractor ride to pick strawberries at Pallman's.

4. On Tuesdays kids can play mini-golf for free at Lahey's.

5. Our area parks are wonderful! Who doesn't love splash park at South Abington? Scott Township has a super slide affair at the end of Layton Road. And Waverly Community House takes the prize with their wooden consortium.

6. Back porch board games. Monopoly is our all-time favoite.

7. Kids Bowl Free at Idle Hour Bowling Lanes is a wonderful program. Each week we receive new coupons for the kids to bowl two free games every day! Shoes must be rented. The program goes on all summer. Idle Hour also has a glow-in-the-dark mini golf that the boys enjoyed.

8. House projects that can involve the skills and strength of the children cultivate a good work ethic. This summer we cleared a part of our yard of undergrowth and had to rake rocks, reseed, and hay. Good exercise. Good learning.

9. Local camps and vacation Bible schools are well planned and creative . . . and they fulfill both of my summer goals with the children. This year we enrolled in Evangelical Free Church's Bible Camp at the Joe Terry Center in Montdale. What a fantastic day camp! Baseball players from the Rail Riders, animals from Pocono Environmental, a juggler ala smoke and swords, games, inflatable water slide, and on and on. Local churches really do a marvelous job. In addition, there are local day camps like Big Blue Soccer Camp at Baptist Bible College that my grandson loves.



10. Our piece d'resistance each summer is the annual camping trip with the entire extended family to Knoebel's Amusement Park. Roller coasters and bumper cars are the favorites, but nothing tops the whole family around an evening camp fire with s'mores, songs, and stories.

GERSHWIN WROTE, "SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVIN' IS EASY."
BUT I SAY, "SUMMERTIME AND THE GRANDMOTHERIN' IS FUN" . . .

And that's the way it is this July . . . On Layton.